ABSTRACT
In How the Laws of Physics Lie (Cartwright 1983) Nancy Cartwright launched contemporary attention to the fact that science describes the world with the use of models that are always limited in scope and never completely accurate. One year later Arthur Fine introduced his Natural Ontological Attitude, or NOA, (here cited in Fine 1986a, b) which steers a middle ground between what he argues are problematic extremes of scientific realism and various contrary forms of antirealism. I will explore a certain confluence between Fine’s and Cartwright’s views. Seeing Fine’s view through Cartwright’s lens will bring to light an interesting way to see certain aspects of his view. On the other hand, approaching Cartwright through the issues that concern Fine will call our attention to the idea that Cartwright’s observations apply much more broadly than just to science, indeed that they raise issues about how to think about truth.
